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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1..

J. T. WARING- FELTING MACHINE FOR HAT BODIES, &c. I No. 357,350. I Patented Feb. 8, 1887.

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N. PETERS. Pnowumn w. wamin mn. D. c

(No Model.) I 2 Sheets,-Sheet 2.

J. T. WARING. FELTING MACHINE FOR HAT BODIES, &c. No. 357,350.

Patentd'Feb. 8, 1887.

N PETERS, Photo-Lilhognphor, Wmhinglun. 11c.

NlTED STATES Tron.

PATENT FELTlNG-MACHINE FOR HAT-BODIES, 84C.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 357,350, dated February 8, 1887.

Application tiled September 20, 1886. Serial No. .Zl3,975. (N0 model.)

cable to starting-machines-that is to say, to'

machines in which the preliminary felting op eration is performed immediately after the hat-bodies or other articles have been formed, or formed and hardenedand it is during such early felting operation or starting that the hatbodies are necessarily subjected to alight delicate treatment to prepare them for the more energetic operations which follow.

The invention relates to machines for felting, which severally comprisea traveling belt or apron, usually endless and preferably hav-" ing a lagged or roughened surface, and so arranged as to form a pocket or loop within which the hat-bodies or other. articles are placed in quantity and are subjected to a felting operation by the continuous travel of the apron. In machines of this character the mass of articles within the loop of the apron has a tendency to elongate during the felting operation; and to'prevent the hat-bodies from escaping from the ends of the loop by such elongation the hat bodies have been placed within a bagor rolled within a cloth before being placed in the loop of the apron. Such inclosure of the hat-bodies within a bag or cloth is, however, objectionable, as it prevents the hair which may be mixed with the fur or other material from which the hat-bodies are made, and which has no felting qualities, from readily escaping from the hat-bodies.

An important object of my invention is to prevent or control the elongation of the mass of hat-bodies which are subjected to the endless travel of the apron without inclosing the hats within a cloth or bag, and also at the same time to prevent any injurious abrasion of the ends of the mass of articles which would tend to disintegrate the hat-bodies while in fragile condition.

The invention consists, essentially, in a feltingmachine for hat-bodies and otherarticles,

comprising the combination, with a traveling apron and guides-whereby there is maintained in the apron a depending loop open at the top, of abutments whereby the ends of the loop are closed and the undue elongation of the mass of articles, which would result in their escaping from the loop, is prevented. The abutments may be of any'suitable material, and they preferably have hard and smoothly-finish'ed surfaces of metal, porcelain, or other sub, stance to prevent abrasion of the hat-bodies. Such abutments may be made in the form of rotary disks, which close the ends of the loop, and are free to move or turn with the mass of articles in the loop, and which may be of metal or other material. I also employ in connection with the apron and guides, arranged as described, and the abutments whereby the loop is closed at the ends, pipes for the delivery of steam, or steam and hot water, upon the hats or articles in the loop while they are undergoing the felting operation.

According to my invention, I may also arrange the guides for the apron, whereby the loop is maintained therein, in such position that one side of the loop will bemade to move in an inclined direction, so as to bear with its weight on the mass of articles in the loop, and I'may also employ in connection with the end less traveling apron, having an irregular surface and guides for maintaining the loop in the apron, a bed or supporting-surface underlying the loop and serving to more effectively guide the apron.

The endless traveling apron may, according to my invention, be of any suitable material and constructed with any arrangement of projections which will render it more effective in its felting action. find, however, by practivcal experience, that the apron may advantageously be formed of a number of endless belts or hands arranged side by side with spaces between them and parallel lags extending across and secured to the belts or hands. I may also apply to the lags at the ends and on the side opposite the belts or hands a strip of canvas or other material to form a guard or safety-strip, overlying the end portion of the lags and serving to prevent the hat-bodies or other articles from being caught and pinched between the ends of the lags or sides of the apron and the abutments in close proximity I towhich the sides of the apron move.

struction are included in the novel combinations of parts which are hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section on the plane of the dotted line a; m, Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a plan. Fig. 4 is a transverse section, and Fig. 5 an end view, upon a larger scale than Figs. 1 and 2, representing a portion of a traveling apron, which I find very effective in its operation, which embodies my invention. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 7 a plan, of a machine illustrating a modification of my invention; and Fig. 8 is a transverse section of certain parts upon the plane of the dotted line y y, Fig. 6.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

I will first describe the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2. A designates a traveling apron; which is here shown as endless, and which is mounted upon rollers or rotary guides B, that are so arranged as to form in the apron at one point in its travel a depending loop, A, which is open at the top, so that hat-bodies or other articles may be readily introduced into it. to it in a direction indicated'by the arrows in Fig. 2, and in order to produce such movement the three rollers or rotary guides 13 may be suitably geared together by a chain, b, and chain wheels I), as shown in Fig. 1, and one of the rollersBmay be provided with fast and loose pulleys b b to receive the driving-belt, as shown in Fig. 1. Motion transmitted through the belt and pulley b to one of the drums or rotary guides B will, by the chain and chainwheels described, be imparted to all the other rollers or rotary guides, and the desired travel will be imparted to the endless apron A. In order to give the rotary guides or rollers B a properbite or hold upon the apron A,they may have theirsurfaces fluted, grooved, or otherwise roughened, as shown in Fig. 2, or they may, if desired, be covered with rubber or other material which will give them a hold upon the apron and cause them to impart motion to the. apron. The lower rollers B may have their shafts supported in boxes I), which may be fixed to the side frames, 0; but the upper roller B may have its boxes I) fitted to slideways 0 in the side frames, 0, and by means of vscrews c, a cross-shaft, c", and bevelgearing c said boxes b may be moved in the slideways a, so as to vary the width of the loop A, and thereby regulate the felting operation or adapt the loop for a greater or less quantity of articles placed therein. I have represented a pipe, (1, as arranged below the loop and perforated on the side adjacent to the loop, and I have also represented another pipe, d, as arranged above the loop A and perforated on the side adjacent thereto. The piped may be provided at one side of the machine with a valve, d, as shown in Fig. 1, and steam in properly-regulated quantity may, through this This apron may have movement imparted pipe, be injected into the mass of articles within the loop A. The pipe d may be provided with a valve, d for controlling the admission of steam thereto, and it may also have a branch pipe, 11, provided. with a valve, 0?, whereby hot water may be admitted for wetting the mass of articles within the loop. Either or both the pipes d or d may be employed, and theymay be used for wetting or moistening the mass of articles either with steam or hot water alone or with both combined at the will of the operator. I have here represented the guides or rollers B as so arranged that that portion of the loop which is uppermost is formed by the apron traveling in an inclined direction upward, and when one side of the loop has such inclination the weight of the apron forming such portion of the-loop will be imposed on the mass of articles in the loop, and will therefore increase the effectiveness of the'felting operation of such articles. In order to prevent the upper part or inclined portion of the loop from falling inward upon the entering side of the loop when no articles are in the loop, I may arrange a guide or sustaining rod or roller, 6, as shown in Fig. 2.

The apron preferably has irregular surfaces, which may be formed by projections in any suitable 'manner, and as the apron travels around the lower portion or bend of the loop it of course assumes a concave form, and such projections are moved slightly toward each o her, thereby giving them, in greater or less degree, a pinching or biting action upon the mass of articles in the loop, which is effective in producing the felting of such articles.

The apron A, where it passes the point 8, which may be termed the entering side or mouth of the loop, is supported on the front lower roller or rotary guide B, and therefore has a convex profile in the direction of its travel, which tends to slightly spread the proj ections of the apron, and thus enables the hatbodies or other articles to enter more fully between such projections than they would otherwise do, and therefore renders the pinching or biting action on the articles very effective.

As the -felting operation, progresses the mass of articles within the loop has a tendency to elongate, and if the loop is full at starting the articles would be crowded beyond the ends of the loop were not some means employed to prevent their escape. In some cases where felting has been performed by the loop of the apron, as described, the hat-bodies or other articles have been inclosed within a cloth or envelope, or within a bag, ii] order to prevent their elongation to a degree which would permit them to escape from the loop. Such inclosure of the hat-bodies or other articles is, however, objectionable, because by it the free escape from the articles of hair, which has comparatively no felting qualities, is prevented.

An important result attained by my invention is that I am enabled to fill the loop A IIO with hat-bodies or other articles in aloose state and unconfined save by the apron, and thus afford ample facility for nearly all the hair to work out of them in the felting operation. This result I accomplish by providing at the ends of theloop A abutments, which, in this instance, are supported by or constitute part of the side frames, 0. These abutments may have a lining or covering, 6, which may be of copper or other smooth metal, or of porcelain or other smooth material, and the abutments will therefore close the ends of the loop A and control the undue elongation of the mass of articles, even while the mass of articles is entirely unconfined save by the loop and abutments. It is advantageous to provide the abutments with asmooth finished surface, 6, becausethe hatbodies or other articles will then not be subjected to a degree of abrasion which would injure them.

The construction of apron which I fi-nd to be very desirable is illustrated in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. This apron consists of a number of endless belts or hands, f, which extend parallel with each other, leaving considerable space between them, and to the faces of which are secured, by rivets or otherwise, parallel lags or strips f, which afford spaces between them, and which may be of any desired profile in their transverse section. The belts or hands f may be of canvas or other material, and the lags f may be of wood. The sides of the apron A work quite closely to the abutments e, and in order to prevent the hat-bodies or other articles from working in between the edges of the apron and the abutments I may apply to the upper sides of the lags f endless guards or shieldsf which may be of canvas or other suitable material, and which are on the sides of the lags opposite to the belts or bands f.,

In Figs. 6, 7, and 8 I have illustrated a ma chine in which an endless traveling apron, A, is so'arranged and guided as to form two depending-loops, A, which are open at the top. In this instance three rollers or rotary guides, B, are arranged in substantially the same horizontal-plane, and the apron A is passed over such rollers or guides, and also around other guide-rollers, B, if desired. .In this example of my invention, the apron where it forms the loop A has beds or supporting surfacesunderlying it, and such support may consist of at trough or box, D, provided with cross-partitions h and longitudinal strips or rods h, notched into such ci'osspartitions, so

that their surfaces-will be flush with the cona valve, 01 as before described. The trough or box D may have at the bottom. an outlet, 7

d", for water, and by a cock or valve applied to said outlet any desired depth of water may be maintained in the box or trough D. I have also represented a pipe, d, as arranged in the loop above the portion which will usually be occupied by hat-bodies or other articles, and which may be provided with a valve, d and a branch pipe and valve, (1 d as before described, for supplying steam and water to the articles in the loop. In this example of my invention the abutments at the ends of the loops A may be formed by circular disks of metal, E, which may have a central stud or pivot, e and which may be supported by a circular series of anti-friction rollers, 6 so as to rotate freely. When such abutments are employed,they may rotate freely with the mass of articles in the loop A, and willstill further prevent abrasion of the hat'bodies or other articles.

In order to impart the desired motion to the apron A, the several rollers or rotary guides B may be geared together by the endless chain b and chain-wheels b, and one of the rollers B may have applied to its shaft fast and loose pulleys b If, to receive a driving-belt, as is shown in Fig. 7. The center roller B may be supported in stationary bearings b, and to provide for varying the width of the loops at their open top the two end rollers Bv may have their shaftssupported in boxes b which are fitted to slideways c in the side frames, 0, of the machine. By means of screws 0', a cross-shaft, c", and bevel-gearing 0 the box If of each end roller B may be moved in the slideways 0, so as to vary the width of the loops A at their months or open tops.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Ina felting-machine for hat-bodies and other articles. the combination, with a traveling apron and guides whereby there is maintained in the apron a depending loop open at the top, of abutments whereby the ends of the loop are closed and the undue elongation of the mass of articles therein prevented, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, with a traveling apron and guides whereby there is maintained in the traveling apron a depending loop open at the top, of abutments closing the ends of the loop and having hard and smoothly-finished surfaces to prevent abrasion of the hat bodies, substantially as herein described.

3. The combination, with a traveling apron and guides whereby there is maintained in the traveling apron a depending loop open at the top, of rotary abutments closing'the ends of the loop and free to move or turn with the mass of articles in the loop, substantially as herein described.

4. The combination, with a traveling apron and guides whereby there is maintained in the traveling apron a depending loop open at the top, of abutments whereby the loop is closed at the ends to prevent the elongation of the IOC mass or articles, and pipes for delivering steam and hot water upon the hats or articles in the loop, substantially as herein described.

5. The combination, with a traveling apron,

5 of guides whereby there is maintained in the apron a loop open at the top, and whereby one side of the loop is made to move in an inclined direction, so as to bear with its weight on the mass of hats or articles in the loop, substan- IO tially as herein described.

6. The combination, with a traveling apron, of guides whereby a loop open at the top is maintained in the traveling apron, and a bed or supporting-surface underlying the loop,

15 substantially as herein described.

7. The endless apron herein described for felting-machines, consisting of a number of endless belts or bands, f, arrangedside by side, with spaces between them, lagsf, extending across and secured to the belts or bands, and 20 guards or safety-strips f, overlying the end portions of the lags, substantially as herein set forth.

J OHN T. VVARIN G.

Witnesses:

C. HALL, FREDK. HAYNES. 

